Portobello Mushrooms With Pearled Barley and Preserved Lemon From 'Ottolenghi'

Portobello mushrooms are often disparaged as an easy, boring stand-in for meat when cooking vegetarian meals. Among the all of the bland mushroom "burgers," it's easy to forget one of the portobello's most useful characteristics—its stuffability. Take, for instance, the stuffed mushrooms from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's Ottolenghi cookbook. They braise the caps with a mixture of butter, wine, thyme, and garlic. Over the slow cooking time, the mushrooms absorb every last nuance of the braising liquid, emerging tender and fragrant. Pearled barley, tangy preserved lemon, and salty feta make up the bulk of the stuffing, and the final dish is crowned with a flurry of sprouts.

What worked: The feta and preserved lemon were a particularly smart inclusion here, as their sharp saltiness tempered the deep, earthy notes of the braised mushrooms.

What didn't: I thought the proportion of barley to broth was off. I didn't need nearly that much broth or that long of a cooking time to turn the barley tender. You should safely be able to cut back to 2 cups of broth, and you can cook the barley for 30 to 45 minutes.

Suggested tweaks: If you want to make these gluten-free, you could use quinoa or millet in place of the barley. (The cooking times will change accordingly.) If you can't find preserved lemons, you can substitute the zest of one lemon and increase the amount of salt in the stuffing. I used pea sprouts instead of the basil or radish sprouts. They weren't purple, but they still added a nice crisp contrast to the dish.

Reprinted with permission from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Copyright 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.

Directions

1.

First cook the barley. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the barley, lower the heat, then cover and simmer for 1 hour, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the barley is tender.

2.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Take a large baking sheet and grease it heavily with two-thirds of the butter. Scatter the thyme sprigs over it. Stem the mushrooms and place the mushroom caps, stem side up, on top of the thyme. Pour over the wine and stock and scatter the sliced garlic over. Dot each mushroom with a couple of knobs of the remaining butter, then season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. Leave them in their cooking juices until you are ready to serve.

3.

When the barley is done, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the preserved lemon, feta, parsley, and thyme. Taste and add salt and pepper. To serve, reheat the mushrooms in the oven for a few minutes, if necessary. Place each mushroom, stem side up, on a serving plate. Scoop the barley on top and spoon some of the mushroom cooking juices over. Garnish with the basil sprouts and drizzle over the olive oil.

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